The Foundation of Freedom is the Courage of Ordinary People

History On Line

14.5 mm antitank
rifles

The PTRD fired a 14.5mm bullet, the
heaviest "small-arms" round in the Korean
War. Used with deadly effectiveness by North Korean and
Chinese snipers, they were deadly out to 2,000 yards,
so could be pre-registered on potential lanes of
attack. Seemingly striking from nowhere, the mere sound
of the gigantic round roaring by ( muzzle energy 24,326 ft-lb!) was
terrifying to unsuspecting troops.

The 14.5mm bullet, probably the
heaviest "small-arms" round found
anywhere in regular service (the British .55 in
converts to 13.97mm), was fired from a massive
cartridge case. When redundant in its anti-tank
role, the 14.5 mm became a heavy-machine gun
round, and was used as a long range sniper rifle
by the North Koreans during the Korean War.

During WWII, the PTRD was only
effective against German armor when fired from
the side at point-blank range and hitting a
vertical plate. Although the only effective
infantry weapons against tanks by the time of the
Korean War were HEAT missiles from the 3.5in super bazooka and the
recoilless rifles, the
PTRD-1941 was effective against ordinary
transport, and much more effective and safer to
use than the TNT satchel charges which were the
primary anti-tank weapons available to the poorly
armed CCF. Its most effective application in
korea was as a long distance sniper rifle.

The rifle itself, while it
appeared to be simple, was actually quite an
ingenious design and (according to Hogg and
Weeks) probably owed something to the German
PzB38. The barrel was allowed to recoil in the
stock and, during this movement, the bolt rode on
a cam which rotated and unlocked it. At the end
of the recoil stroke, the bolt was held and the
barrel moved back into battery, moving away from
the bolt to open the breech and eject the spent
case. A fresh round was then inserted and the
bolt was manually closed. In some respects, this
could be described as a "long recoil"
system.

The bullet was originally a
steel-cored streamlined armour-piercing type, but
this was superseded by a non-streamlined
tungsten-cored armour-piercing-incendiary
pattern.

The PTRS-1941 design of Simonov
was contemporary to the PTRD-1941, fired the same
ammo, and allowed a clip-loaded magazine because
of a more complex self-loading design. A gas
piston acted on a bolt carrier to open the bolt,
eject and reload in the usual fashion, and the
gas regulator could be adjusted to give
sufficient force to overcome dirt or freezing
conditions. Nevertheless, the PTRS was less
robust, much heavier (46.l lb vs 38.14 lb) and
longer (6 ft 11 in vs 6 ft 7.5 in) than the PTRD.
Both rifles remained in service into the Korean
War.

The PTRD and PTRS were the only
individual anti-tank weapon available in quantity
during WWII. Inadequate against tank armor, PTRD
teams would aim at view ports, which mainly
served only to show the gunners' position.
This subsequently relegated them to use against
armored half-tracks and motorized traffic, and
anti-personnel sniping deployment. In Korea, the
PTRD was used very effectively by both the North
Korean and Chinese snipers. They were deadly out
to 2,000 yards, so could be registered on
positions or potential approach routes and
seemingly strike from nowhere. The mere sound of
the gigantic round roaring by was terrifying.

Causes of the Korean Tragedy ... Failure of Leadership, Intelligence and Preparation